Door operating mechanism



March 24, 1970 H.- HORMANN DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 25.- 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 7

March 24,v 1970 I HO 3,501,865

DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 23, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

March 24, 1970 H. HORMANN noon OPERATING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 25, 1968 FIG. 3

United States Patent Cfice 3,501 ,865 Patented Mar. 24, 1970 Int. Cl. E05d 13/12, /38

U.S. Cl. 49-358 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A door operating mechanism adapted to be secured to the door panel of a garage door or the like comprising an operating shaft carrying a roller adjacent each end, a guide rail at each end for guiding the rollers and a shaped member rotatively supporting the operating shaft adjacent each of its ends. The shaped members are movable relative to the door panel between two limiting positions. Each of the shaped members is held by an angle section with two flanges projecting from its planes, which can be fixed to the door panel. These flanges have aligned apertures for guiding the shaped member which, through dowel pins and the like can be brought into engagement with the flanges, by the force of the a spring mounted between the flanges.

This invention concerns a device for fixing the drive shaft for a door for a garage, hall or the like to a door panel, the driving shaft carrying adjacent each of its ends a roller running in a guide rail.

Doors of garages, halls and the like of various constructions are known and in the same way operating means for moving such doors are known. One group of these is based on the principle of ensuring a weight compensation so as to move the door panel more easily in that a shaft engaged by and acted on by at least one torsion spring is provided. Each end of the shaft carries a cable drum, by means of which cables, each of which engages one end of the sides of the door panel, can be wound. The door panel of sucha door then consists preferably of several, hingedly interconnected parts, the height of which-as seen in the closed state of the doorequals a fraction of its length across the width of the door opening, and which parts are guided by rollers mounted thereon in rails in such a manner that in the open position the door panel extends substantially in the horizontal plane.

Another operating mechanism for opening such doors is based on the principle that, with a construction of door panel resistant to bending, opposite its upper end an operating shaft is mounted, which may be rotated by an electromotive driving mechanism each end of this shaft carrying a roller guided in upper horizontal guide rails. By rotation of the operating shaft, the rollers are also rotated, and since at least their outer surfaces are made from a material which makes good frictional contact with that of the guide rails, the opening of the door is eifected. The rollers thus push along the guide rails and thus urge the door panel into the open position. In such constructions, a weight compensation is likewise provided, for example by spring-loaded compensating arms hinged to the lower end of the door panel. The invention now takes as its starting point preferably this principle of an operating mechanism preferably for the doors of garages.

It has been known for a long time that during the initial opening of a door panel, the rearwardly extend ing track for the rollers is not straight but is in fact a curve. If the rollers now run in guide rails which are mounted in a plane extending substantially parallel to the ceiling of the garage, these guide rails must have a cross section such as to provide play for the rollers when the door panel is moved out of its closed position. i.e., out of its vertical plane since as stated above the rollers move over a curvilinear path. Naturally the guide rails can also be provided in the area of their ends near the door frame with a curvature taking into account such a curve, but obviously such a construction of guide rails is very expensive, quite apart from the fact that the adjustment for eifecting smooth running is very difficult. By a correspondingly large size of the interior cross section of the guide rails in relation to the size of the rollers, this fact is taken into account particularly in doors which are to be opened by hand i.e. in that, after starting the opening process, the rollers run over a curved path. If guide rails having a C-shaped cross section are provided, the rollers, in the closed position of the door, are in the lower leg of the guide rail. If then the door panel is now to be moved from its closed position into its open position, the rollers first come into contact with the upper legs of the guide rails before again sliding over the lower legs of the guide rails. Corresponding considerations obviously apply to the last stage of the closing process, when the door panel is returned from its open position into its closed position.

If now the rollers are fixed to the ends of an operating shaft and consequently drag the door panel from the closed position into the open position, provision must be made that they remain continuously in frictional contact with the guide railsv In order to take into account now the above-mentioned curved track of the rollers and to avoid the expensive construction of guide rails curved at their ends adjacent the stop frame, it has been proposed according to one construction to connect the guide rails to the stop frame with a limited amount of adjustment in height. Thus for example opposite the stop frame an angle section is fixed, the free leg of which is provided with a longitudinal slot in which a pin and the like, secured relative to the guide rail is slidable. A spring supported between the angle section and the end of the guide rail on the side of the stop frame can thus load the end of the guide rail in such a manner that this is resiliently held in an end position defined by the slot in the angle section. If the path of the door panel necessitates any deviation, this takes place against the resistance of the spring so that during each phase of the sequence of movements in opening, or in the reverse case of closing, a frictional contact between the roller and the guide rail is ensured.

It is an object of the invention to deal with the known problem arising from the curved path of the rollers in a different manner. It is intended to provide a device which is much cheaper to produce, and, which should have the advantage of causing little noise. This object is achieved in that the operating shaft carrying adjacent each end a roller guided in guide rails is secured in position relative to the door panel of a door for garages, halls and the like, by a device which is characterised by a shaped member rotatably supporting the operation shaft adjacent each of its ends and which is movable between two limit positions relatively to the door panel. Each of these shaped members, two of which are associated with one operating shaft, is held by an angle section with two flanges projecting from its plane, which can be fixed to the door panel; these flanges have aligned apertures for guiding the shaped member which, via dowel pins and the like can be brought into engagement with the flanges, by the force of a spring mounted between the flanges. The possible path of displacement of the shaped members relative to the door panel or relative to the angle iron should correspond to According to a preferred embodiment each shaped member held by an angle section of the above-mentioned kind, is surrounded in the region between the flanges of the angle section by the spring which is thus supported between one flange and the shaped member. The initial stress of this spring should be such that the roller indirectly influenced by it will be kept in constant contact with the guide rail. In order to provide cheaper mass production, it is recommended to manufacture a unit consisting of shaped member, spring and angle section, the shaped member of which rotatably holds the stub shaft of a guide roller, two such units are then mounted opposite the upper end of a door panel and interconnected by the operating shaft which formed as a stub shaft. A compression spring supported on the shaped members is preferably associated with each end of such a stub shaft.

Whilst reference has been made exclusively to the principle of an operating mechanism of the second, abovementioned type, it should not remain unmentioned in this context that it can be advantageous even in an operating mechanism of the first above-mentioned type to achieve less noise, so as to secure in position the rollers guided in guide rails, each of which is associated with a slat of a door panel consisting of a plurality of hingedly interconnected, stiif slats, with respect to such a slat that its shaft is rotatably held by a shaped member which is controllably movable relative to the slat between two limit positions. The scope of the invention disclosed thus also relates to such embodiments and in this context it will be readily understood that this securing of the rollers can be carried out in a manner which is analogous to that described above for securing the operating shaft.

Features of importance to the invention will be described in more detail in the following with reference to an embodiment by way of example shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation view of a device according to the invention, which is fixed with respect to the door panel of a garage door,

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view thereof and FIGURE 3 is a side view of the device according to the invention.

The door panel with respect to which the operating shaft carrying the rollers is fixed by means of two devices according to the invention is designated in the figures by reference numeral 1. It consists in a known manner of a frame 2 of hollow sections, which is covered externally by a suitable covering 3. Only the left upper corner area of the door panel is shown; the right upper corner portion is constructed correspondingly. Guide rails 4 of an approximately C-shaped cross section are now mounted in a known manner in a plane extending parallel to the ceiling, and it is apparent from FIGURE 1 that rollers '5 which are keyed on to stub shaft 6 are guided with play in these guide rails. These rollers are covered with a coating made of a non-slip material, such,as rubber and the like, so that frictional contact is provided between rollers and guide rails.

The device according to the invention consists in particular of a shaped member 7 which rotatably holds the stub shaft 6 of roller 5 at 8 and 9. 8 and 9 are bearing bushes, preferably of a plastics material, which are inserted in apertures 10 and 11 of side walls of a box-like centre portion of the shaped member 7. In the embodiment, the shaped member 7 is produced from two metal sheets 7' and 7", the central section of which is shaped, these sheets 7' and 7" being secured to one another for example by welding together the end portions which project beyond the box-like central portion and thus form flaps or tongues 12 and 13. It will be understood that this shaped member 7 can also be produced in a different manner and also can have a different cross sectional shape, it must only be ensured that the stub shaft 6 of the roller 5 is securely mounted and that flaps 12, 13 and the like,

following, are provided.

According to the invention each shaped member 7 is held by an angle section 14 which is secured to the door panel 1 by screws and the like. This angle section 14 has two flanges 16 and 17 projecting from its plane which are provided with openings 18 and 19 respectively; these openings 18 and 19 are in alignment and the flaps 12 and 13 of the shaped member are inserted therethrough. The openings 18 and 19 thus guide the shaped member 7 via its flaps in the vertical plane. A compression spring 20 which, as is apparent particularly from FIGURE 1, is supported between the upper flange 16 of the angle section 14 and the box-like centre portion of the shaped member 7, surrounds the upper flap 13 of the shaped member 7. The device according to the invention is finally completed by dowel pins 21 and 22 which limit the movement of the shaped member 7. Pin 21 (FIGURE 1) engages the outer surface of flange 16 when the roller 5 is in contact with the surface of the lower leg of guide rail 4, and pin 22 engages the outer surface of the flange 17 when the roller 5 is in contact with the surface of the upper leg of the guide rail 4.

The possible path of displacement of the shaped member 7 relative to the angle section 14 and thus also relative to the door panel 1 is now preferably so selected that it corresponds to the internal cross section of the guide rail 4 less the diameter of the roller 5. The initial stress of the compression spring 20 should be so adjusted that the roller 5 always maintains contact with the surface of the lower leg of the guide rail 4 but permits its contact with the surface of the upper leg thereof, when, as described above, the door panel is changed from its closed position into its open position, and the rollers initially necessarily travel through a curved path.

One of the above-described devices according to the invention will be mounted in the region of the upper corners of the door panel 1, and the stub shafts 6 of the rollers 5 will be interconnected by an operating shaft 23 of which engages such stubs 6 e.g. in a sleeve-like manner. This operating shaft 23 can be set in rotation in a manner known per se by an electromotive force. Thus an electric motor may be mounted for example approximately in the centre of the door panel and the operating shaft can be rotated by a belt drive, the belt pulleys of which are keyed to the motor shaft or the operating shaft.

In order to utilise, if desired, also the end faces of the rollers 5 to move the door panel, it is advantageous to associate with each end of the shaft 23 a compression spring 24; this compression spring 24 is thus supported between the operating shaft 23 and the shaped member 7.

In a door panel which consists of several, hingedly interconnected, individually stiff slats, rollers guided laterally in guide rails are associated with the individual slats; these rollers also slide in the guide rails with a certain play. In order to ensure less noise, it is finally further recommended according to the invention that these rollers should be fixed with respect to the individual slats by a device of the type described above; each stub shaft of these rollers will then also be held by a shaped member which is preferably displaceable relative to an angle section which is fixed to the door panel, under the action of a compresssion spring.

What I claim is:

1. Door operating mechanism adapted to be secured to the door panel of a door for a garage, hall or the like comprising an operating shaft carrying adjacent each end a roller, a guide rail at each end for guiding said rollers, a shaped member rotatably supporting said operating shaft adjacent each of its ends said shaped members being movable relative to such a door panel between two limiting positions.

2. Mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said shaped member is carried by an angle section securable to the door panel and having two flanges with aligned openings therein which serve as guides for said shaped member, movement of said shaped member in said guides being controlled by a spring mounted between the flanges and dowel pins in the shaped member.

3. Mechanism according to claim 2 wherein said spring surrounds part of the shaped member and abuts against another part thereof and one of the flanges.

4. Mechanism according to claim 2 wherein the available movement of said shaped member relative to said angle section is equal to the internal cross section of said guide rail less the diameter of the roller.

5. Mechanism according to claim 2 wherein said spring is prestressed so as to maintain the roller always in contact with the guide rail.

6. Mechanism according to claim 2 wherein the operating shaft is of sleeve like construction engageable with stub shafts on said rollers.

7. Mechanism according to claim 6 wherein said shaped members have a box like central portion which engages the stub shaft of said roller at two points.

8. Mechanism according to claim 6 wherein bearing bushes are provided for said stub shafts.

9. Mechanism according to claim 6 including a compression spring associated with each end of said operating shaft and engageable on said shaped member.

10. Mechanism according to claim 4, wherein said spring surrounds part of the shaped member and abuts against another part thereof and one of the flanges.

11. Mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the available movement of said shaped member relative to said angle section is equal to the internal cross-section of said guide rail less the diameter of the roller.

12. Mechanism according to claim 10, wherein the operating shaft is of sleeve like construction engageable with stub shafts on said rollers.

13. Mechanism according to claim 7, wherein bearing bushes are provided for stud stub shafts.

14. Mechanism according to claim 13, including a compression spring associated with each end of said operating shaft and engageable on said shaped member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,820,516 1/1958 Cookson et al. --209 3,125,334 3/1964 Lohr 49-349X 3,202,415 8/1965 Lodge 160188X 3,203,028 8/1965 Knape 16--105 I KARL BELL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

